Hello, fellow miners! In case you missed the news, PS3 owners can now get their hands on Super Motherload and dig up some Martian gems with their friends.

In the wake of the PS3 launch, and to treat our players on PS4, today’s post is all about tips and tricks — helping you to maximize your mining (and edging out the “friendly” competition). Follow these tips and you’ll have your gold Trophies in no time!

Faster, Stronger: Dig straight shafts down to expedite returning to the surface. It’s often worth the cost of bombs to ensure a better tunnel for speedy, collision-free travel.

Efficiency = Much Better: Fuel consumption is highest when digging and flying. Refrain from revving the engine when descending and stay still while figuring out puzzles to conserve fuel.

Make a Small Fortune: Consider your actions carefully when solving puzzles. A careless blast can render the reward irretrievable and result in bomber’s remorse.

Be More Cautious This Time, Comrade: C4 destroys a 5×5 area, TNT destroys 3×3, and Shaft Bombs destroy 1×9. This can can mean the difference between grabbing valuable gemstones and wiping worthless dust from your hull.

Best Improve Yer Game Plan: Using DualShock 4’s touch pad to detonate bombs is much faster than cycling with the bumpers. Beat your “comrades” to the best loot by swiping Left for TNT, Up for C4, Right for T-Bombs, Down for Shaft Bombs and Clicking for Electron Bombs.

Ooh, This Don’t Look Safe: Lava is usually best avoided, but it can be worth trading a few scorch marks on your hull for tasty rewards when you’re low on bombs.

I Regret Everything: Steel plates can be melted with Electron Bombs, but the remnants are still hot enough to deal damage. Shrewd miners know to blast away the remnants with explosives before proceeding.

Cheat Death: Upgrade your fuel tank whenever possible, and watch your fuel like a hawk. You’ll need a well-equipped digging machine to make it in hardcore mode — ideally with an unlocked character. You may have to start a few games with the same character to earn enough cash. Teleporters are your friend.

A Vehicle to their Undoing: Different Specials are available at shop bases each game, and multiple playthroughs are required to collect them all.

A Lucrative Selection: Each unlockable character has a different special ability that will come in handy on future missions into Mars.

It Can be Cruel Beneath the Surface: Be prepared for the deepest depths of Mars. Plenty of bombs, an upgraded rotor, high hull strength and a decent radar will help you in reaching your destiny. Good luck, comrade; the fate of Universe is in your hands.

Super Motherload is available now for PS4 and PS3.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/04/how-to-earn-a-fortune-in-super-motherload/feed/17http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/SuperMother.jpg3.55CEO and Founder, XGen Studios171Super Motherload Out Today on PS4http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/15/super-motherload-out-today-on-ps4/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/15/super-motherload-out-today-on-ps4/#commentsFri, 15 Nov 2013 23:00:05 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=121115Super Motherload and PS4 today, we count ourselves lucky to be among the small number of indie games available at launch, helping to make good on Sony's promise to support innovation from small teams. What we don't push in polygons, we hope to make up in truly social gameplay experiences that keep drawing you back. For the next puzzle, the next Special Upgrade, and of course your next grudge-match against pals.]]>

With the launch of Super Motherload and PS4 today, we count ourselves lucky to be among the small number of indie games available at launch, helping to make good on Sony’s promise to support innovation from small teams. What we don’t push in polygons, we hope to make up in truly social gameplay experiences that keep drawing you back. For the next puzzle, the next Special Upgrade, and of course your next grudge-match against pals.

One unique PS4 feature we didn’t have space to mention in our last post is Super Motherload’s use of the Activity Feed. As certain events unfold in Super Motherload, such as the untimely and permanent death of your hard-won upgraded character at the hands of fuel depletion in Hardcore mode, the activity feed will broadcast notification of your controller-hurtling rage to your friends on PSN. Other, more celebratory activity feed posts include the acquisition of Special Abilities and Character Unlocks.

There has also been quite a bit of interest in the soundtrack for Super Motherload since our last post. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve decided to stream the entire soundtrack on YouTube for free (with digital download & a vinyl edition also forthcoming). You can check out the entire soundtrack here.

Super Motherload’s soundtrack is an electronic score written by Eric Cheng, inspired by sci-fi / horror movie themes and synth-pop hooks. Eric is an Edmonton-based producer who has worked with artists like Mac DeMarco, Coeur de Pirate, and Michael Rault. He’s a member of electronic pop artist Born Gold’s touring band, and also toured with Grimes in early 2012 during her North American Visions tour.

We hope you’ll make Super Motherload one of your titles on Launch Day!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/15/super-motherload-out-today-on-ps4/feed/19http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/supermotherload1.jpg4.02CEO and Founder, XGen Studios190Super Motherload on PS4: Exploring the Story and Game Modeshttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/08/super-motherload-on-ps4-exploring-the-story-and-game-modes/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/08/super-motherload-on-ps4-exploring-the-story-and-game-modes/#commentsFri, 08 Nov 2013 15:30:40 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=120462

With just one week until Super Motherload launches alongside PS4, I’m eager to share with you PlayStation.Blog readers a bit about what makes Super Motherload tick, as well as show off a brand new video to set the scene.

Super Motherload is an arcade style digging adventure for one to four players, set on Mars in the retro future (And if that’s not a mouthful enough, you’re welcome to add “Soviet space race,” “B movie sci-fi,” and “mining puzzler” to the mix!).

Inspired by our original game, Motherload, we wanted to bring Mars mining to consoles and breathe some life back into the four-player, couch co-op style of gameplay that we love and miss so much. Online play can’t hold a candle to a good, “reassuring” elbow to the ribs when your buddy goes in the wrong direction with no fuel to spare.

Super Motherload’s visual charm is no doubt rooted in some of our favorite movies and tv shows of past decades, including Battlestar Galactica (the original), Buck Rogers, and Moon, to name a few. Those favorites, along with an ’80s inspired soundtrack, all lend to Super Motherload’s B movie, sci-fi aesthetic — Eric even cited Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as inspiration for the soundtrack.

The story is told through fully voiced transmissions, and illustrated cutscenes as written by comic book veteran Kurtis Wiebe, whose experience was a perfect match to write the dialogue-driven storyline.

“Mars.
The near future.

The Solarus Corporation discovered an infinite source of rare and precious minerals deep in the red crust. Resources that will end the energy crisis on Earth and fuel the deep space expeditions planned as population swells beyond capacity.

Constructing magnificent surface bases, Solarus’ early mining endeavors resulted in returns of wealth beyond measure. Delving deeper they installed new facilities and recruited more adventurous technicians and operators seeking to expand their empire.

Then, one day, Mars went silent.

Cut off from their people, Solarus sent new recruits to continue operations and restore communications. You are such a recruit and with Mars growing closer by the hour, you sense that all is not right on the Red Planet.

Can you uncover the mysteries of Mars or will her secrets be your undoing? Good luck, employee 1001.”

There’s a surprising amount of depth in the design behind Super Motherload, with four years of concepting, experimentation, and refinement to the mechanics. Ultimately, the feedback loop remains straightforward; dig around to collect minerals and return to the surface to sell those minerals for cash. That cash allows you to refuel, repair, and — most importantly — buy upgrades so that you can drill deeper into the Red Planet.

The further you dig, the more difficult it is to progress. Your mining pod is upgradable to suit your style of play with various combinations of speed and capacity upgrades, bombs, items, and quest rewards. Eventually you’ll find the perfect balance and upgrade progression that allows you to blast through to the core and find out what’s happening to your comrades below. There are a number of strategies for efficient digging, and with the aid of co-op players, you’ll begin to discover better methods to reach your full potential with each trip.

We’re excited to say that Super Motherload runs at a buttery smooth 60 FPS in 1080p on PS4, and the new touch pad on the DualShock 4 provides the most immediate method for using specific bomb shapes to blast through obstacles and solve puzzles. Instead of selecting a bomb type by cycling through your items with the DS4 triggers, gestures are utilized: up, down, left or right for the most basic bomb types, or touch pad click to use an Electron Bomb.

This small addition to Super Motherload really streamlines gameplay; once you’ve memorized the direction to swipe for the bomb types, it becomes second nature. When we were testing out the feature in the office, it was funny to watch coworkers who hadn’t yet broken their L1 and R1 button habits face off against those who had mastered the touch pad — while the button cyclers were doing their thing, the touch pad elite had already busted through the obstacle for the prize.